Archive for December 17th, 2006

The stormy skies and mountains above were supposed to have been those of the Pacific Northwest. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they are instead the glorious view yesterday, from our sailboat at dock in the Santa Barbara Harbor. Not quite as far up the coast as we had expected to be this weekend.

Apparently, throwing a big g’bye party for sixty of one’s closest pals and giving away most of your furniture is a sure-fire way to ensure that any flies in the room will zoom right into the ointment. Tuesday morning, a mere three days before Charles, Moses, Smudge and I were to move our multi-pawed lives 1000 miles to the north, we were informed that the buyers decided that they didn’t want the place. The two couples, who were buying our home as a shared weekend beach house, succumbed to some petty inter-friendship bickering, and the result is that Charles and I will be enjoying a lot of unexpected free time this month in a remarkably empty, über-Zen living/dining room! It actually looks great, and we know that we’ll sell the place and get on with things, but this sudden change of plans is… uh… dynamic, to say the least.

So: onward. This deal was not meant to be, and we’re sure that a better one will appear. Soon, we hope, since we’re still glowing with the psychological momentum that such a move inspires. We’re extremely fortunate to have not yet entered into escrow on a house we’ve been negotiating for on San Juan Island. And, now we’re in a calm, streamlined position: all but packed, and every inspection, estimate and repair accomplished. Now all we have to do is add a new buyer, just add water and stir, and voila! Escrow #2.

I realize that after the big party last weekend, and what with everyone assuming that by now we’d be outta town, I could pull a Federal witness relocation number and not tell anyone that we’re still here. The phone would stop ringing, I could catch up on sleep, and steep myself in a slew of new compositions. Maybe I’m missing a golden opportunity by letting anyone know the truth!